RGS Advisors conduct classification and compensation studies of all sizes, from assessing a single class or classification series to analyzing division, department, and agency-wide structures. We are skilled at crafting, reviewing, and analyzing public sector organizational classification and compensation structures and are familiar with the technical requirements associated with the professions and services incorporated in public agencies.
Our practical approach to both classification and compensation studies gives agencies and their employees logical and comprehensible parameters and data for understanding and evaluating both current and future organizational structures. We have helped many organizations to successfully strategize useful staffing approaches as well as navigate the challenges and opportunities that surface in studies.
Click below to learn more about our typical approach and process.:
- Confirmation that job titles and classifications are consistent with the work being performed
- Identification of obsolete job titles and classifications and identification of re-classifications where indicated; recommendations for new classifications and job titles.
- Evaluation and assessment of job families and series to ensure that each position within a job family has a unique classification description and that the series of classifications within job families appropriately reflect a progressively higher-skilled set of duties and responsibilities, requiring a greater level of experience and education, training, or certification.
- Revised or new job classification descriptions that accurately describe the essential duties and minimum qualifications for each classification.
- A holistic approach to a classification study. Since each agency is unique in its work culture, services, and community, RGS considers these factors when analyzing classification plans and making recommendations.
- Maintenance recommendations for the classification plan. This essential plan has far-reaching effects for any agency and should be managed over time. A well-managed plan can be utilized to assist in recruitment and selection of qualified applicants, promotion and transfer of employees, development of appropriate training strategies, and formulation of sound and equitable performance evaluation programs. In addition, a well-developed and maintained classification plan can assist in development of staffing alternatives, establishment of succession plans, creation of organizational structure and accountability, and efficient and effective use of the knowledge and skills of agency employees.
- Kick-off meeting with partner agency point(s) of contact
- Participant orientation and position description questionnaire (PDQ) deployment
- Review completed PDQs – evaluate job classification structure
- Conduct data clarification interviews
- Develop classification recommendations
- Draft job classification descriptions
- Recommend benchmark classifications and internal alignments
- Recommend a classification plan maintenance program to assist agency employees assigned to ensure the integrity of the adopted classification plan
- Draft report and submit to partner agency for review
- Finalize classification report and job classification descriptions
- Present study data to boards, commission, labor representatives etc., as needed
- Providing recommendations for the comparable agencies to be included in the study and the compensation elements that will ensure the data collected provides the agency with the most relevant data.
- Utilizing an agency’s classifications to identify similar classifications in identified comparable agencies. RGS utilizes a whole-job analysis approach to compare jobs with one another based on an overall evaluation of difficulty or performance. This takes into account the entire position, including:
- - Education and experience requirements
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- - Scope and complexity of the work
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- - Knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform the work
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- - Supervision received and exercised
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- - Consequence of error
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- - Organizational structure of the division/department where the classification(s) is/are found.
- Evaluating whether the client agency’s compensation and benefits are competitive with the job market utilizing the data obtained from surveying comparable agencies.
- Creating/updating the compensation plan and recommending the placement of classifications within the salary schedule, including the impact of both market data and internal equity.
- Kick-off meeting with partner agency point(s) of contact
- Determine or confirm the comparable agencies and compensation factors to be utilized for the study
- Collect compensation data
- Create salary schedule
- Recommend placement of classifications within the new salary schedule
- Calculate the cost for implementing the compensation study
- Recommend a compensation plan maintenance program to assist agency employees assigned to ensure the integrity of the adopted compensation plan
- Finalize compensation report and all supporting worksheets
- Present study data to boards, commission, labor representatives etc., as needed
If you have any questions, or would like to talk about your agency’s needs, please contact Patty Howard at 650-587-7300 ext. 94 or phoward@rgs.ca.gov to learn about our Classification and Compensation Services.
